UNTHSC Student Orientation

Lewis Library Information Resources

Databases for Literature Searching in Physician Assistant Studies

Database Descriptions

OSTMED®
Created by librarians at UNTHSC's Lewis Library, The Osteopathic Literature Database is a bibliographic index to the osteopathic medicine literature. It was developed to fill the gap in MEDLINE of citations from osteopathic journals.  The OSTMED® database currently contains some 30,000 citations and abstracts of journal articles. It is international in scope. Subject access is through keywords, National Library of Medicine's Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), and a structured thesaurus of unique osteopathic terms derived from the AACOM Glossary of Osteopathic Terminology and other sources.

Academic Search Premier
Full-text articles from over 4,000 peer-reviewed, academic journals in all subject areas. From the early 1990's, some from 1975. 

AccessMedicine
An online source of biomedical information drawn from textbooks, drug guides, practice guidelines, patient education material, and health news.  Among the textbooks offered are Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, Hurst's The Heart, and Goodman & Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis Of Therapeutics.  Access Medicine also offers USMLEasy, a test preparation tool.

ACP Journal Club
Full-text reviews of clinically-relevant articles published in Evidence Based Medicine (a joint publication of the ACP and the British Medical Journal Group) and ACP Journal Club, a publication of the American College of Physicians--American Society of Internal Medicine. The editors screen the top clinical journals on a regular basis and identify studies that are both methodologically sound and clinically relevant. They write an enhanced abstract of the chosen articles and provide a commentary on the value of the article for clinical practice. 

AMED
The Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED) is a unique bibliographic database produced by the Health Care Information Service of the British Library. It covers a selection of journals in complementary medicine, palliative care, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, rehabilitation, and podiatry from 1985 to present.  Login/password optional.

CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature)
Contains more than 2,400 journals in allied health and nursing, health care books, nursing dissertations, selected conference proceedings, standards of professional practice, educational software and audiovisuals. Besides nursing, subject areas include physician assistant literature, public health, osteopathic literature, emergency services, medical records, alternative/complementary medicine, social work, and many others. Some articles are available in full text. Coverage from 1982.  Login/password optional.

Clinical Digital Library
A clinical digital library, designed to provide "real-time" library services to offsite (including rural) clinical users. Links to both subscribed and web resources are integrated into one resources intended for patient care use. 

ClinicalTrials.gov
ClinicalTrials.gov provides regularly updated information about federally and privately supported clinical research in human volunteers. ClinicalTrials.gov gives you information about a trial's purpose, who may participate, locations, and phone numbers for more details. You may also want to learn more about clinical trials.

Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials
Part of the Evidence Based Medicine Reviews Collection, CCTR is a bibliographic database of definitive controlled trials, identified by the distinguished contributors to The Cochrane Collaboration. CCTR and other organizations, as part of an international effort to search the world's health care journals systematically, have combined results to create an unbiased source of data for systematic reviews.  CCTR contains over 300,000 bibliographic references to controlled trials in health care. Clinical trials identified in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and contributed specialized registers form the CCTR database. Contributors to the Cochrane Collaboration follow quality control standards to ensure that only reports of definite randomized controlled trials or controlled clinical trials are included. Login/password optional.

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Part of the Evidence Based Medicine Reviews Collection, CDSR includes the full-text of the regularly updated systematic reviews prepared by The Cochrane Collaboration. The Cochrane Collaboration is an international network of individuals and institutions committed to preparing, maintaining, and disseminating systematic reviews of the effects of health care. Each issue of Cochrane contains new and updated reviews and protocols (in process reviews). Once a review is published it will appear in every issue thereafter.  Login/password optional.

Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE)
Part of the Evidence Based Medicine Reviews Collection, DARE is a full-text database containing critical assessments of systematic reviews from all over the world. It consists of structured abstracts of systematic reviews from a variety of medical journals.  Login/password optional.

ERIC (Education Resources Information Center )
A national information system funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences to provide access to education literature and resources. Includes over 1,100 journals and reports in the field of education. Good source of information on medical education, cognition, learning theory, enrollment statistics, etc. Covers literature since 1966. 

HAPI (Health and Psychosocial Instruments)
Health and Psychosocial Instruments provides ready access to information on measurement instruments (i.e., questionnaires, interview schedules, checklists, index measures, coding schemes/ manuals, rating scales, projective techniques, vignettes/scenarios, tests) in the health fields, psychosocial sciences, organizational behavior, and library and information science.   Covers 1985 to present. 

International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements (IBIDS)
IBIDS is a database of over 730,000 citations from 1986 to the present on the topic of dietary supplements from four major database sources: biomedical-related articles from MEDLINE, botanical and agricultural science from AGRICOLA, worldwide agricultural literature through AGRIS, and selected nutrition journals from CAB Abstracts and CAB Health. The scope of IBIDS includes the use and function of vitamin, mineral, phytochemical, botanical, and herbal supplements in human nutrition, the role of nutrient supplementation in metabolism in normal nutrition and disease states, animal studies that relate to the function of dietary supplements in human nutrition, chemical composition, biochemical roles, and antioxidant activity of botanical and nutrient supplements, fortification of foods with supplemental nutrients and health-related effects, nutrient composition of herbal and botanical products, surveys on dietary supplement use by various populations, and the growth and production of herbal and botanical products used as dietary supplements.

LactMed
A new edition to the National Library of Medicine's TOXNET system, LactMed is a free online database with information on drugs and lactation. LactMed is geared to healthcare professionals and nursing mothers.  It contains over 450 drug records, a glossary, and web links.

MANTIS
MANTIS™ (Manual, Alternative, and Natural Therapy Index System) is a primary health care database which emphasizes health promotion, prevention and conservative care. Periodicals have been included from medical, osteopathic, physical therapy, chiropractic, and other disciplines. Particular emphasis is placed on research relating to the etiology, physiopathology and treatment of neuromusculoskeletal conditions (backache, headache, scoliosis, nerve compression syndromes, sports injuries, etc.).  MANTIS™ contains references from over 700 biomedical publications. Searchable subject headings include standard Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) in addition to a specialized supplemental controlled vocabulary in the areas of alternative medicine.  Coverage is 1880 to present.  Login/password optional.

MDConsult
One of the premier clinical resources, MDConsult is a searchable, full-text collection of 40 medical textbooks organized by specialty, 1,000 practice guidelines, 3,500 patient education handouts, drug information, CME, and news. Articles from over 50 clinical journals are also included. Login/password required.

Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database
Evidence-based, clinical information on natural medicines.  Searchable by product name and medical condition. 

Natural Standard
A database offering reports from an international research collaboration that aggregates and synthesizes data on complementary and alternative therapies

PsycINFO
PsycINFO(R) contains citations and summaries of journal articles, book chapters, books, dissertations, and technical reports, all in the field of psychology and the psychological aspects of related disciplines, such as medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, physiology, linguistics, anthropology, business, and law. Journal coverage, spanning 1887-present, includes international material selected from more than 1,500 periodicals written in over 35 languages. Current chapter and book coverage includes worldwide English-language material published from 1987-present. Over 60,000 references are added annually through weekly updates.  Login/password optional.

SPORTDiscus
SPORTDiscus (Sport Information Resource Centre) is a international bibliographic database, covering all aspects of sport, fitness, recreation, and related fields. Articles from more than 2,000 sport-related journals, monographs, book analytics, theses, videotapes, audiotapes, book reviews, websites, and CD-ROMs. SPORTDiscus is indexed using the controlled vocabulary from its unique SIRCThesaurus (6th edition). The majority of the database covers from 1975 to present with comprehensive thesis coverage dating back to 1949; other retrospective coverage (monographs, etc.) dates back to 1609.  Login/password optional.

TOXNET
The Toxicology and Environmental Health Information Program (TEHIP) of the National Library of Medicine's Specialized Information Services is responsible for the Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET®), an integrated system of toxicology and environmental health databases that are available free of charge on the web.

Web of Science (includes Science Citation Index)
Web access to the following citation indexes from 2002 to the present: Science Citation Index; Social Sciences Citation Index; and Arts & Humanities Citation Index. 

WorldCat
A "national catalog" of books, journals, manuscripts, videotapes, web resources, and other material.  This database is like a combined online catalog of most academic and public libraries in the U.S., with more than 52 million library records.  Users may search WorldCat to locate items not owned by their local libraries or to check references for accuracy.  UNTHSC student, faculty, and staff may order materials not owned by Lewis Library using an online form directed to the library's Interlibrary Loan service.